Boy's brave battle with bone disorder

Published on Thursday 13 August 2009 22:09

A TODDLER is facing painstaking treatment to have his leg lengthened by a millimetre a day – after being diagnosed with one of the world's rarest bone disorders.

Lukas Kidney is one of only 50 people in the world known to be born with an affliction that has left him without a shin bone – leaving one of his legs shorter than the other.

The condition means that Lukas will need to have his leg broken every time he experiences a growth spurt, then painstakingly stretched by a millimetre every day for eight months.

The 22-month-old boy from Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, suffers from ectrodactyly fibular aplasia syndrome, which has also left him with only two fingers on his left hand.

His mother Vicki, 28, of Grangemouth says he will soon need to have surgery to have his leg broken, then have a special screw fitted to gradually stretch out his left leg.

The stretching, which will take up to ten months, could be repeated several times throughout his childhood until he stops growing.